Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Storm Begins: The Rense System Navy

SeerK Here. Well February has been a
busy month for everybody. Sorry for the lack of updates. Job

hunting and gaming malaise has left me doing a lot of stuff other
than writing. Although we will still be covering 40K on occasion, we
are kind of changing gears on Craftworld Lansing. The writers and
many at our FLGS do not like the direction things are taking with
40K.

IN fact my Eldar have been sitting on
the back burner for quite a while now. I have been playing quite a
bit of Firestorm Armada and I am eagerly awaiting the release of
Spartan Games ground based combat game Planetfall, which is set in
the Firestorm Armada Universe. With the 40K malaise in full force I
decided I am going to start talking about the Fleet I run in
Firestorm Armada. In fact there is going to be a lot of Firestorm
Armada coverage from now on. I have talked about it a bit in the
past, but the other writers and I are going to be delving in deep
with it. This means tactics, battle reports and our general musings
on the game. That said, Lets dive into Firestorm Armada.

In The game you take command of a
fleet of warships from one of the many factions available. Ultimately
the faction belongs to either the Terran led Kurak Alliance or the
Dindrenzi Federation Led Zenian League. As with most war games, you
build a fleet using a point system. The game also uses a force org of
sorts. It is a Tier system made up of three levels.

Each Tier contains different types and
sizes of vessels. Tier One Vessels are the largest ships in the
fleet. These range from Dreadnoughts, currently the largest vessel
you can field, to Squadrons of Heavy Cruisers and Battleships. Tier
two vessels are generally mid sized capital ships. Typically your
fleets Cruisers and destroyers occupy this slot. Tier three vessels
are the smallest. Frigates, Corvettes and Escort vessels occupy this
tier. Each tier has a minimum number of vessels that must be taken
and a maximum number that can be taken. This minimum and maximum can
change based on the point level of the game.

The number of squadrons available
increase as you play higher point level games. There are basically 3
different “Force Org” charts based on the point level of the
game. The first is for games up to 800 points. This is known as a
“Patrol Fleet”. 801 points to 1200 points is a “Battle Fleet”.
1201 points and above is known as a “Grand Fleet” Sometimes
ships can move to different tiers at higher point levels. For
example, when you are playing an 800 point game Heavy Cruisers may be
in Tier 1. If you play a 1000 point game they may be now Tier 2.
Each fleets ships are generally in the same Tier, but there are some
differences. For example, I play the Rense System Navy which is part
of the Zenian League. In 800 Point games and below I can take a
Battle Carrier as my Tier 1 choice. If I was using the Ryushi Fleet,
part of the Kurak Alliance, at the same level I could not take a
Battle Carrier as a Tier 1 choice. I could only take a Battle
Carrier as a Tier 1 choice in games above 800 points. I know it
sounds a bit confusing, but there is a chart that is specific to each
fleet in their Fleet manual. I wanted to do a brief overview before
I dived into my fleet and the ships it contains. Over the next few
weeks I will be going in depth on the Ships of the Rense System Navy,
the leader and enforcer of the Zenian League.

The Rense System Navy is a sub faction
within the Dindrenzi Federation. Originally formed to guard the new
Capital world of Ravens Citadel after the destruction of the original
Capital world of Dramos at the hands of the Terran Alliance. As time
went on the Rense Navy became the personal strong arm of the
Federation Chairman. The crews and commanders of the Rense Navy are
the best and the brightest. Drawn from all across the Federation,
they patrol the federation and strike deep into alliance territory on
missions of subterfuge and intelligence gathering. The Rense Navy
has the best ships in the Federation, as they are a joint venture
between the Dindrenzi Federation and the Mega Corporations of the
Directorate.

Many of the members of the Rense System
Navy are also devout members of the Church Of The Dramos Angels.
This religious organization formed after the destruction of the world
of Dramos. Dramos is a major center point for the Federation. With
their forces being driven back during the second succession war the
Terrain Alliance unleashed a nuclear holocaust upon the world of
Dramos. The Dindrenzi Federation had won its independence from
Terra, but at a very high price. The Rense Navy has the honor of
guarding the millions of Pilgrims that flock to the blasted world of
Dramos.

Basically the Rense Navy are the
Zealots of the Dindrenzi Federation and its members are the ones
really driving the current hostilities against the Terran Alliance
and their Kurak Alliance allies. Although it is a Zenian League
fleet it has at least 2 ships in each tier and can act as a fleet by
itself. From what I have seen most of your Kurak Alliance and Zenian
League member fleets have to work with other members to work as a
cohesive fleet. The Rense System Navy can stand on its own.

Their Ships are as follows

Tier 1

Banshee Class Dreadnought

Spectre Class Battleship

Argus Class Carrier

Tier 2

Spook
Class Cruiser

Cerberus
Class Heavy Cruiser ( can be Tier one depending on point level)

Phoenix
Class Destroyer

Tier 3

Bulwark Class Frigate

Siren Class Escort

I am going to start from the bottom and work my way up. Next time I
am going to be talking about the workhorse of my fleet. The Bulwark
Frigate. Despite its class and size it packs a punch and when used
properly it can knock out vessels well above its weight class. So
next time the Bulwark, doin work!

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